Rick Santorum is off base when he criticizes college as a place where
young people lose their “faith commitment.” In fact, the percentage of
those with weakened religious affiliations is higher for those who don’t
go to college.

Santorum also twists Obama’s words when he accuses him of snobbery
for pushing a college education. In fact, the president also urged
vocational training.

On Feb. 26, ABC’s “This Week”
host George Stephanopoulos asked Santorum why he called President Obama
“a snob” and why Santorum called colleges “indoctrination mills.”
Santorum replied that colleges are “liberal” and that “most kids who go
to college who are conservatives … are singled out” and “ridiculed.” He
then added:

Santorum, Feb. 26: You know the
statistic that at least I was familiar with from a few years ago — I
don’t know if it still holds true but I suspect it may even be worse –
that 62 percent of kids who enter college with some sort of faith
commitment leave without it.

Santorum made the claim
more forcefully at a Jan. 25 appearance in Naples, Fla., where he said
“you know 62 percent of children who enter college with a faith
conviction leave without it.” He also encouraged people to not give
money to colleges.

But Santorum’s claims are off base. Those not attending
college were more likely to stop going to religious services and to
report they no longer had a religious affiliation than their
college-going cohorts, according to data cited in a 2007 report
published by the Social Science Research Council and unearthed by PBS.
(We asked the Santorum campaign if this was indeed the report to which
the former Pennsylvania senator was referring, but we have not received a
response.)

The report said: “Contrary to our own and others’ expectations,
however, young adults who never enrolled in college are presently the
least religious young Americans.” Data from the National Longitudinal
Study of Adolescent Health, the authors wrote, showed that “64 percent
of those currently enrolled in a traditional four-year institution have
curbed their attendance habits.” But the figure was higher for those not
in college. “Yet, 76 percent of those who never enrolled in college
report a decline in religious service attendance.”

On top of that, 25 percent of those not in college reported a lower
“religious salience” than they did when interviewed in high school,
while 19 percent of those attending college reported such a decline.
Those not in college were also more likely to report they no longer
identified with any religious affiliation: 20 percent, compared with 13
percent of those in college.

Santorum doesn’t say whether young adults later on, in their years
after college, start going to church more frequently — but that’s
exactly what the authors of the 2007 report expect. They wrote that many
Americans’ religious expression drops off in young adulthood and picks
back up again as they get older. “The climb back into regular or
semi-regular religious practice — if it occurs at all, and it usually
does — is often stimulated by marriage and childbearing.”

Most college students didn’t lose their religion, the authors said,
but many reported a drop in outward displays of religiosity. “The
religious belief systems of most students go largely untouched for the
duration of their education,” the authors wrote. “Religious faith lies
dormant in students’ lives, waiting to be awakened at some point after
college, but it is rarely seen as something that could either influence
or be influenced by the educational process.”

A study
published last year in The Review of Religious Research and based on
1998 data from the General Social Survey said, among other findings,
that education was “unrelated to religious disaffiliation.”

The Effects of Education on Americans’ Religious Practices, Beliefs, and Affiliations, 2011:
While education has a positive effect on switching religious
affiliations, particularly to mainline denominations and “other”
religious traditions, it is unrelated to religious disaffiliation.
Education also has a positive effect on religious participation,
emphasizing the importance of religion, and supporting the rights of
religious authorities to influence people’s votes.

Twisting Obama’s words

Santorum also twists Obama’s words, claiming the president made a
college-or-bust demand on all Americans, some of whom would rather train
to be a carpenter, auto mechanic or some other non-college-level
profession. “President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to
go to college. What a snob,” Santorum said in a Feb. 25 speech
in Michigan. But Obama, as Stephanopoulos pointed out, asked “every
American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or
career training.” And Santorum has stated a similar request.

Obama, Feb. 24, 2009:
And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or
more of higher education or career training. This can be community
college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship.
But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more
than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no
longer an option.

On “Meet the Press,” Santorum said he held the same belief — but he claimed Obama wanted everyone in four-year schools:

Santorum, Feb. 26: And what I’ve said is
that you know I want everyone to have the opportunity to go to college
or any other higher — higher level of training skills.

In fact one of the big things I talk about in growing the — the
energy and manufacturing sector of this economy, is we’re going to need
upgraded skills for people to be able to go and — and operate that
machinery, be able to do the things that are necessary. But it doesn’t
mean you have to go to a four-year college degree and — and the
president saying that everyone should.

In fact, Obama announced
billions in funding for community colleges in 2009 to increase
graduation rates. Today, in a speech to the National Governors
Association, he reiterated that he supported community colleges, too:

Obama, Feb. 27: When I speak about
higher education we’re not just talking about a four-year degree. We’re
talking about somebody going to a community college and getting trained
for that manufacturing job that now is requiring somebody walking
through the door, handling a million-dollar piece of equipment. And
they can’t go in there unless they’ve got some basic training beyond
what they received in high school.

Sounds to us like the president and Santorum favor the same thing.

Back in 2006, Santorum’s website also said he wanted every child to have access to higher education:

RickSantorum.com, 2006: In addition to
Rick’s support of ensuring that primary and secondary schools in
Pennsylvania are equipped for success, he is equally committed to
ensuring the every Pennsylvanian has access to higher education. Rick
Santorum has supported legislative solutions that provide loans, grants,
and tax incentives to make higher education more accessible and
affordable.

So, Santorum is criticizing the president for advocating the same thing he once supported himself.

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